1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display system provided on a ceiling of a vehicle so as to show images to occupants in back seats.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-248145, filed Aug. 27, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In an example of an image display system provided on a ceiling of a vehicle so as to show images to occupants in back seats, a main body attached to the ceiling and a monitor contained in a housing recess formed in the main body are provided. This monitor can be rotated and can protrude from the housing recess so that the display screen is oriented toward the back seats, and an operation switch is provided on the main body (see Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-204409). Another example of the image display system also has a main body attached to the ceiling and a monitor contained in a housing recess formed in the main body. This monitor can be rotated and can protrude from the housing recess so that the display screen is oriented toward the back seats, and a controller is detachably contained on the side of the housing recess toward the front of the vehicle body (see Reference 2: PCT International Publication No. WO02/009976).
When the operation switch is provided on the main body which is attached to the ceiling (as disclosed by Reference 1), a passenger who wants to operate the switch must reach the passenger's hand toward the ceiling, which is inconvenient. In particular, when a child wants to operate the switch, the ceiling may be beyond the reach of the child, and the child may not be able to operate the switch.
When the controller is detachably contained in the main body which is attached to the ceiling (as disclosed by Reference 2), the above problem relating to the system as shown by Reference 1 does not occur when the detached controller is used. However, in this case, the controller is contained on the side of the housing recess (for containing the monitor) toward the front of the vehicle body. Therefore, when the monitor protrudes from the housing recess, if a passenger in a back seat tries to detach the controller or operate the contained controller, the monitor obstructs the operation, thereby degrading operational performance.